THE PALMS OF AMERICA. 165 



fill the groves with its perfume in the months 

 of August, September, and October. 



The last of the South American palms ■which 

 it will be needful to particularize, is that known 

 to botanists as Phytelephas macrocarpa, and to 

 the natives of Peru as the Tagua plant, or 

 Cabeza de Negro (Negro's head.) 



It grows on the banks of the river I\Iag- 

 dalena, in New Granada, and in the groves 

 of Peru, in the hotter part of the Andes. 

 The leaves are used by the natives to cover 

 the roofs of their huts. The fruit, however, 

 is the especially valuable part of the tree. 

 It consists of a number of roundish or egg- 

 shaped, somewhat three or four-sided nuts, 

 which are collected together into a large prickly 

 head, from which the palm derives its name of 

 Negro head. The nuts are the vegetahle ivo7'y 

 of commerce. When young, they contain a 

 clear tasteless liquid, which is regarded as a 

 refreshing beverage by travellers. In the pro- 

 cess of growth, however, this clear licjuid 

 becomes milky and sweet, and it changes its 

 taste and consistency by degi-ees, till at last it 

 is converted into a substance whiter than ivory, 

 and as hard — sometimes harder. The liquid 

 contained in the young fruit becomes acid if this 

 is cut from the tree and kept some time. The 



